​The Samsung KidsTime Authors’ Award (SKTAA) is back! SKTAA is a joint initiative between the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) and Samsung KidsTime. The award seeks to turn both published and unpublished picture books from ASEAN into digital apps for the Samsung KidsTime platform, so that local and regional content can be available to a wider audience.

​Last year’s inaugural award received 149 entries from seven nations, and awarded 37 winners, six of which received Grand Prizes. The only winning entry from Malaysia in 2015 was The Currypuff War of Kampung Asam, by Oyez!Books very own author, Lim Lay Har, and illustrator, Lim Lay Koon.

The Way of Puteri Gunung Ledang - from The Nanobots and Other Stories by Golda Mowe

The Mystery of the Missing National Anthem by Heidi Shamsuddin

The SKTAA 2016 will award up to two grand prize winners and eight second prize winners from each ASEAN nation, for a staggering total of up to 100 winners! Grand prize winners will see their work become mobile apps on the Samsung KidsTime platform and win $2,000 SGD cash, while 2nd prize winners will see their work become mobile apps on the Samsung KidsTime platform. The award will be presented at the 2016 Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) in Singapore. The picture books, whether published or unpublished, can be in any language, but must be accompanied by a basic English translation for the purposes of assessment. Submissions are open from 21 October 2015 till 04 January 2016.